Member Profile: Janice Levi February 16, 2017

MEMBER PROFILE: JANICE LEVIMEMBER #20887

Janice Levi enjoys turning wearable art in her newlyrevamped shop.

When Janice started turning wood, it was still verymuch a man's world but the Houston area clubmembers welcomed her. Within three years, shewas elected president, the first female to hold thattitle. Although Janice has gone on to serve theWaco club as president and became the firstfemale president of SWAT, it is turning wood, notpolitics, that is her passion.

_______________________________ Name: Janice Levi Hometown: Grosebeck, TX Turning Club: Brazo Valley Woodturners,Waco; Gulf Coast Woodturners, Houston Turning Experience: 15 years

_______________________________ What motivated you to join AAW?

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The Gulf Coast Woodturners, the firstwoodturning organization that I joined, was anAAW-affiliated club and my new woodturningfriends encouraged me to join AAW. At that time Iwas told that the journal alone was "worth theprice of admission." It certainly was. When you look at your turnings, what doyou see? I see a lot of experiments. I've always been an "Iwant to do it all" kind of person, so I tried justabout everything I saw demonstrated, a whole lotof what I saw in books and magazines, andfinally, I began to experiment with those thingsthat most appealed to me. For the past fewyears, I have really worked at jewelry and pursedesigns.

Who, or what, was your greatestteacher/influence?I was so fortunate to have two great woodturnerfriends who lived close-Bill Berry and Luna Ford.They were competent turners and teachers andthey would come over on Wednesday afternoonsand teach me toolmanship, shop safety,sharpening, wood choices, and so much more.Luna doesn't turn anymore, but I still regularly goto Bill with my woodturning questions. What was your happiest turning moment? I had been trying to figure out how to make andinstall wooden hinges into one of my pursedesigns, and I struggled with jigs, onlinesuggestions, friend suggestions, and articles.Nothing worked the way I saw those hinges in mymind. I finally was able to work out a design thathad promise, but I couldn't get the knuckles all thesame width. Finally, my husband said, "Cut insidethe lines, not on the lines." It was an "Ah-ha!"moment. What is your favorite wood/tool and why?For turning and enhancing jewelry, holly is myfavorite wood. It is a blank canvas and the graindoesn't argue with the pyrography tip. For purses,I like maple or pear. For bowls and platters, I likemesquite with all its cracks and bark inclusions.

I do a lot of spindle work and the 3/8" detailgouge is a real workhorse. I use it to turn beadsand coves and even to turn delicate finials. Where do you see the field of woodturninggoing?I think we'll head in the direction of artistic turningfor awhile. The new, young turners are provingthat fantastic things can be accomplished on the

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lathe that were never thought possible nor evendreamed of. But life tends to run in cycles, and Ithink that in time, we will return to functionalpieces stealing the limelight. In addition to woodturning, what othercrafts/hobbies have you enjoyed?I believe that people should enjoy life and shouldexperience as many new things as possible.Don't be afraid to try and don't be afraid to fail. Asa result, I have enjoyed many activities and hadmany hobbies throughout the years. Water skiing,snow skiing, cave exploring, photography,motorcycle riding, stained glass, gardening,design work... Most of them have faded away as Iget older, but woodturning and drawing are stillvery much a part of my life. Has being a part of AAW affected your lifeand work? How?Every time a new journal would arrive in the mail, Iwould sit down immediately and read every page,marking those projects that I would go to the shopand try. I still do that today. But the scope of AAWhas grown so much and there are so many moreresources available now. Need a tip of how to dosomething? AAW has it at your fingertips online.Need a demonstrator for your club meeting?AAW has a list of them. Beginning turner whoneeds help and ideas? AAW FUNdamentals isfor you. Need a grant? Want to teach theunderprivileged? Good grief! I'm beginning tosound like a commercial. What is your favorite project or piece?There are a couple of purses that I really like anda few pieces of jewelry. I down-sized the pursewooden hinge and used it in some jewelry piecesthat I'm really proud of.

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What the stylin' woodturner wears!

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The barrel-shaped purse is one of Janice's favorites to turn.The shapes and designs are endless.

How has your local chapter helped you?After leaving the Houston area, I joined theBrazos Valley Woodturners. It's a growing cluband the level of enthusiasm is fantastic. It's also aclub with a high percentage of women turners.We have open shops, hands-on retreats, regionaland national demonstrators, club picnics-all thethings that create camaraderie and learning!

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We hope you haveenjoyed the AnniversaryProfiles we shared withyou in 2016. They were agreat way to help uscommemorate the AAW's30th year. Inspired bypositive feedback on thisseries, we've decided tocontinue sharing memberstories, but with anexpanded scope toinclude those who joinedthe AAW later and havehad (or are having) asignificant impact on ourorganization's success.We hope you enjoy these

Janice wrote an article for the February 2017 issue ofAmerican Woodturner on how to turn this half-moon purse

(begins on page 32).

member profiles! Click here to read thisand other profilesonline.

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